Fort Smith Woman Wins New Car With 15-Second Video

Saturday

May 17, 2014 at 3:18 AM

At Smith Chevrolet-Cadillac in Fort Smith on Friday, Sherri Chastain took a series of test drives to pick out a new car, one that will be paid for in full thanks to a dramatic, 15-second Instagram video.

At Smith Chevrolet-Cadillac in Fort Smith on Friday, Sherri Chastain took a series of test drives to pick out a new car, one that will be paid for in full thanks to a dramatic, 15-second Instagram video.

In March, Cars.com began a monthlong promotion offering a new car to the user who submitted the most dramatic video, in connection with its campaign "All Drive, No Drama."

Chastain’s video shows her grimace and plead "Why?" and "Again?" to her car’s empty gas gauge.

"That was an expression that resonated loudly with many car owners," said Patrick Olsen, editor in chief of Cars.com. "In our online voting, she won over the audience, so that’s why she’s here today test-driving three cars."

Though the Fort Smith native’s friends and family know she has an affinity for recording videos of herself, she was shocked to learn she had won a new car doing so. "We had to share it every day and get my friends to vote, and in the en, I made the top three videos," she explained.

After voters decided the top three videos, the judges at Cars.com picked their favorite among the three.

"I got my phone, and I looked at the email, and I didn’t get past the first few words," Chastain said, still barely able to contain her excitement.

"I was the grand prize winner! I threw the phone down, I started crying; my heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to have a heart attack, and my husband had to turn the fan on me." she laughed, "My face was bright red. I was so excited."

Sherri and her husband, who have five children and 14 grandchildren with two more on the way, have rarely been able to travel to visit their growing family. "You couldn’t trust my car; it would always break down," said Chastain. "We’ve had the same car for nine years, and it’s just falling apart. So we really truly need this."

The Cars.com staff showed her the most technologically advanced models available in the contest’s $35,000 budget.